Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Isaiah 57:1-15.

[From the original version]

Six identical letters make up the words “silent” and “listen.” If you would listen to the sound of the voice of the Lord through Isaiah in this passage, then your heart must become silent, so that you hear only the sounds of these verses in your depths.

Notice the stunning hardness of heart of those who have yielded to idolatry. Once the first commandment is broken, all the others follow as rows of falling dominoes. The Lord takes you to the silent heights where God dwells. Feel God’s pain. Believe in God’s compassion—infinitely greater than the sin of idolatry. What does the Lord say to you? Do you have sanctuaries of delight other than the Lord’s home within you?

Isaiah 57

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the seasons of Advent through Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 56 to 66..

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More..
Example: Contrite and humble within v. 15

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the Gospel.

[From the version for young people]

“Hi!” or “Hey!”…the usual way we greet each other. Sometimes we hear, “Wazz up?!”  None of these are really invitations for us to really say what’s going on inside us.  In fact, “Hi,” and “Hey” come from the same source of sound: just a kind of gentle shout to each other to let you know that you’re in each other’s presence.  

“Hiya doin’?”  Now we’re getting a little closer to inviting someone to say how they are.  But even then, we usually give the standard answer: “OK” or “Fine.”  But when we hear someone say with lots of attention and with real interest in listening…”How are you?” that becomes something warm and inviting and we get ready to share how it is with us.

How it really is inside us—whether sad, glad, mad, or feelings of love maybe some fear—all this needs to find a way out so that the energy of peace can well up inside us because we are sharing with someone we care for and whom we trust.  That’s the way it was with John the Baptist.  Way down inside him, God was speaking to him and preparing him in turn to prepare others for Jesus’s coming.  When we read about “The voice crying in the wilderness,” doesn’t that sound like the feelings we have way down inside us—in the “desert” part of our hearts, where the sounds of deep feelings come from?  Hey! That’s the place where God speaks to you and the very feelings and sounds that we make are often one with the voice of God inside us—the Holy Spirit—who really wants to know how you are!  So tell the Spirit…that’s prayer!

Luke 3:1-6

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Crooked straight; rough ways made smooth. v. 5

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year C, we read from the Gospel of Luke.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Genesis 31:43-50.

[From the original version]

Through all the intrigue and dishonesty in this part of the Bible, the Lord is dealing with you and me. Jacob and Rachel secretly escape from Laban, Rachel’s father. She has secretly stowed away the small figurines, which are the household gods of her family’s religion. The couple set out with their entourage and cross the Euphrates River.

As Laban pursues Jacob, Laban is warned by God not to threaten Jacob. Within each of us, the Holy Spirit warns us not only to avoid thinking harm of anyone, but also to pray for those who have wronged us. We need to be guided by the awesome power of God.

Today’s verse, the covenant between Jacob and Laban, is worthy to be engraved in wood and in your heart.

Genesis 31:17—32:3

This is the third of three parts of the Torah Portion Vayetze (And He Departed) 
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.
Genesis 28:10—32:3

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Free us, Lord, from fam’ly strife. 

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information